How advances in technologymay reshape humanity

The timeline offers a general outline of our possible future history, and is somewhat conservative and circumscribed in what it offers the reader. The timeline is meant to be the 'harder' (or more factual/credible) of the two works, in terms of science and predictions. But this also means the timeline must be more generalized, more risk-averse-- and also peter out entirely as we venture into the deep, deep future, where everything must ultimately give way to outrageous guesswork (partly due to technology advancing to levels indistinguishable from magic, as a famous quote by scientist and author Arthur C. Clarke suggests).

Perspectives takes up where the timeline leaves off, offering up a heftier dose of speculation about what the future may bring than is suitable in the timeline. Perspectives helps illustrate some of the possibilities implied by the timeline, as well as how certain select personalities of various periods might perceive (and exploit or respond to) their circumstances. Perspectives also includes facts and speculation about mankind's past. Virtually all credible historians and archaeologists agree that there's many puzzles and mysteries regarding our past that have yet to be resolved.

The internet permeates our lives and begins radically reshaping our institutions, even as breakthroughs in other fields promise fundamental changes in living standards and all future human endeavor; personal computing gets still more powerful even as costs drop further; net users in the developed nations are becoming increasingly isolated in terms of typical historical human interaction; the first crude 'second skin' applications arrive; some forms of insanity and other surprising afflictions prove to be literally contagious; the danger of mass effect biochemical weapons use peaks for most developed states; the wealthy enjoy 'perfect' organ replacements; there are significant increases in the numbers of people taking to the sea to live and work; vigilante organizations rise in prominence and influence.

The emergence of the 'Bounty Economy'; rampant identity theft and other cybercrimes lead to the first and most important privacy vs. security issues being resolved; substantial religion-related conflict erupts; budgetary priorities undergo fierce turf fights in the developed nations, with education and other consumer services usually winning; the human senses are technologically expanded in wondrous new ways; the final elements fall into place to allow software-based human level intelligence to become widely available; 98% of all cancers become curable; mini-subs and STOL/VTOL warplanes (both unmanned) are the cutting edge of warfare; tactical nuclear, biological, and space-based weapons use in conflicts not uncommon; traditional aircraft carriers now obsolete; troops enjoy numerous micromachine-based aids and supplements; environmental decline due to pollution, accidents, terrorism, war, and excessive harvests becomes alarmingly obvious now, but business continues to actively lobby governments for minimal regulatory remedies.

Once upon a time there was a science fiction story. A story so ambitious in scope it required substantial research just to define its boundaries: the ultimate limits of technology, and human potential.

This timeline is the result of that research project.

The Chance of a Realtime is the story. Now available for Amazon Kindles and Kindle apps:

For breaking news about our possible futures, I recommend these blogs:

ATTENTION science fiction writers: One of the reasons I created the signposts document in the first place was to help nurture the creation of 'hard' science fiction across-the-board. Nothing so ruins a science fiction novel for many readers as a glaring implausibility, either in terms of technology or a reasonable historical order to events. Even small errors of this sort tend to get magnified with the passage of time-- as can be witnessed today in much science fiction written five, ten, and twenty years ago. Plus, the 'harder' or more grounded in real science and history your fiction is, the more truly educational it will be for both yourself and your readers, thus possibly offering us all much more than momentary entertainment, in the form of knowledge and ideas which might aid us all in our own lives and pursuits. So I encourage writers to use this chronology as a springboard from which to launch their own speculative fiction, with perhaps inclusion of a note acknowledging me and my web site where appropriate. Any caveats? Yes. Please respect my own fictional efforts by avoiding more than passing references to my Perspectives characters (J. Staute, Kerri, Cluke, the Pearsalls, etc., etc.). And if such references to my characters are included in your work, please do not make any significant changes to the course of those events or actions specifically ascribed to them here (unless of course your story explicitly describes an alternate or parallel universe or dimension(s), distinct and separate from that portrayed on my site). If you feel strongly that a particular event in the signposts document requires correction or improvement of some sort, please email me about it. Second caveat? The signposts document may be updated or expanded as warranted by breaking news and ideas and thus is always subject to significant change without warning (though I always strive to maintain as much consistency and feasibility as possible throughout). -- J.R.M.